Pakistan govt under fire for its handling of Jadhav's case

Announcing its ruling on an urgent bid by India to stop Pakistan from executing the death sentence of convicted spy, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected Pakistan's argument that it did not have jurisdiction in the matter.

"After India stood exposed in state sponsored terrorism and financing terrorism, it tried to divert attention from presenting the Kulbushan Jadhav case with a humanitarian angle", he said. Pakistan argued that counsular access is not an absolute right under the Vienna treaty, and that a 2008 bilateral treaty between India and Pakistan supercedes it anyway.

He said that Pakistan has also not responded to the request by the family members of Jadhav for visas so that they could go and meet him.

After the ICJ's ruling staying Jadhav's execution, opposition parties and sundry legal experts in Pakistan slammed the Nawaz Sharif government for even arguing the case in the global court.

The minister further said Pakistan has strong evidence of Kulbhushan's involvement in espionage.

Joining the leaders in welcoming the order, Delhi Chief Minster and AAP's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal tweeted the entire country is united in ensuing Jadhav's safe release.

"It is a matter of great relief that the ICJ has asked Pakistan not to execute Mr. Jadhav".

India had been unable to provide an explanation for Jadhav's passport which bears a Muslim name, Mohammed Faisal of the Pakistan Foreign Office said in his opening remarks in response to India's submissions earlier in the day.

On Thursday, Justice Ronny Abraham of the ICJ asserted that the Kulbhushan Jadhav's case was indeed debatable, and added that the ICJ had prime facie jurisdiction in the case.

According to former Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman Farogh Naseem, Pakistan should have immediately withdrawn its March 29, 2017 declaration accepting the compulsory jurisdiction of the ICJ.

The government's bold step to move the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague has paid off.

Pakistan Bar Council executive member Raheel Kamran Sheikh said it was matter of concern that success rate of Pakistan in worldwide arbitration cases was 2 per cent while India's success rate was 60 per cent.

"We lost important cases at the worldwide forum in the last couple of years".

On its part, Pakistan had told the ICJ that Vienna Convention provisions on consular access were not intended for a "spy" involved in terror activities and charged India with using the world body as a stage for "political theatre" in the Jadhav case.